Grace shook her head. “No. I think that would just slow things down. But I wondered if maybe you wanted to look at your options of watering.”
Jed looked into the sky. “I think it might be taken care of on its own tonight. Maybe tomorrow we’ll come back and see about diverting the water. I’ll have to make some furrows every now and again to make sure the water can reach all of the wheat, but I believe we’ll have a great crop this year.”
“That’s a good thing,” Grace said, looking over her shoulder for a moment. “Because with how much you like my bread, we’re going to need more wheat flour.”
“Sounds good to me,” Jed said.
***
Jed struggled to stay in the wagon like she’d insisted. He wanted to be out there and doing the work he should have done already, but he knew she would have his hide if he tried to overdo it too much. He was actually impressed she’d let him out of the house when he’d struggled to walk on his own from the bedroom to the kitchen.
He would make sure he healed completely so he could then be strong enough to run his farm like he should. But as he watched Grace, he knew he’d never again doubt her.
As she neared the wagon again on her way back down the field, he waved her over.
“Do you need something?” Grace asked.
Jed nodded solemnly. “I do.”
“What can I help you with?” Grace asked.
“I needed to thank you,” Jed said. “And I needed a little help with deciding something.”
“Deciding what?” Grace asked.
“On whether we should head into town this week or next.”
“I think that would depend on when you feel well enough to travel that far.” Grace looked at his leg then up at him.
“I want to get you something. A gift to show you how much you mean to us.”
“You don’t have to buy me anything,” Grace said.
“I know, but I want to. What would make you happy? What is something you’d really love?”
Grace looked at the girls in the back. “I want some writing slates for the girls. And a few more books.”
“That’s not for you, that’s for the children. Though I’m happy to get those things. It’s time for that anyway.”
“Good,” Grace said, spinning on her heel to return to the field.
“Wait,” Jed said. “What do you want? What would make you happy?”
Grace turned back to him and smiled. “I already am happy. I’ve been given exactly what I need. I have a family.”
Jed took her hand and pulled gently, encouraging her to climb up into the wagon again. “Since you won’t let me climb down, I need you to hop up here for a moment.”
“What?” Grace asked. “Are you hurting again? Should we have packed some water? Should I run to the creek and get water for you?”
“I am fine,” Jed assured her. “Though I believe it would be a good idea for you to take a bit of a break.” Jed waited until Grace had climbed into the wagon and on the seat next to him before speaking again. “I’d love to hear something about your family. Tell me about your brother. Is he older or younger?”
Grace looked flattered that he was asking questions and slowly, little by little, he was able to get her to open up and talk about her family and what her life was like back in New York. She had actual living family there, yet instead, she was here with him, taking care of a farm and the children.
Taking care of his family had all fallen onto her shoulders, and as she told him about her childhood, he could see why she was such a confident and assured woman.
As she detailed some experiences she’d had with people who didn’t like the way she walked, Jed wished he knew who they were and had some way to find them. If only they could see how incredible she really was and everything she had accomplished in spite of her injury.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
A week later, Jed’s leg was to the point he could walk with the aid of a walking stick Grace had given him. He helped her hitch up the wagon once more and then the girls climbed into the wagon bed and Jed handed Milo to Missy. There were a few things they needed to get at the mercantile and Jed hoped the Howards would have something extra. He wasn’t sure yet, but he wanted to get Grace a gift for her very own. If he could find a ring or a necklace or something else pretty, that would be ideal.
The ride back into town was so much different this time than the last time. Grace kept the children entertained with stories about growing up with her older brother and the things they used to do in New York. The girls could barely comprehend how different a city the size of New York was compared to the wide open land and small communities in the Idaho Territory.
When they neared the church building, Jed wasn’t surprised to see children running around and playing. It still served as the school during the week and he wondered when there would be enough need to build a different school building.
From what he knew about Susan Clark, he wouldn’t be surprised if she had plans for something like that as well. Jed had heard enough talk from the men he’d seen off and on that she was stirring up a lot of change. Though it was nice that most of the change was welcome.
“Should we all stop at the mercantile first?” Jed asked.
“Yes please, Papa,” Missy said from the back.
“That will be fine by me,” Grace said. “And if you don’t mind, I’ll slip over into Annabelle’s shop and have a quick visit with her.”
“Sounds good,” Jed replied. He pulled the horse to a stop and climbed down carefully, accepting the walking stick from Grace. He didn’t always need it, but it was helpful to have it just in case. Grace climbed down as well before he had a chance to get around to her side to help her down. He knew she didn’t need the assistance, he just wanted to be able to show her he cared. Since Milo had already reached for Grace, Jed helped his girls out of the back of the wagon and then his little family walked inside the mercantile.
“Hello, Jed,” Mrs. Howard said as they entered her building. She gave him a look that he wasn’t quite sure what to do with. Then she turned her attention to Grace. “It is good to see you again, Grace. I’m glad you came back to town so soon. And you know I wasn’t too pleased to hear you two had gone off and gotten married without letting us celebrate with you.”
Jed finally understood. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Howard. I had so much to do on the farm, I didn’t dare wait.”
“So how long are you here for today?” Mrs. Howard asked.
“For a couple hours, at least.”
Mrs. Howard shook her head. “I think you might need to rethink those plans. You owe me, young man.”
Grace looked at him and he shrugged. “We could stay till evening. But we do have to get back home to take care of the animals.”
Mrs. Howard clapped her hands together. “Great. Now, you just gather the things you need that you can see, and I’ll call Mr. Howard in here to gather the other stuff.” She looked at Grace. “You, young lady, need to go visit my sweet Annabelle. She’s going to be so happy to see you.”
***
Grace followed Mrs. Howard out of the mercantile and down the still new looking wooden walkway that connected the building next door. Inside, Annabelle was at a sewing machine working on some beautiful fabric that looked like it would be fashioned into a dress.
“Hello, Annabelle,” Grace said.
Annabelle turned around and stood slowly, her growing belly making her movements more pronounced. “What brings you back to town? Is everything all right?”
“Things are good. Jed’s mending up well enough and the crops are starting to sprout.”
“What happened to Jed?” Annabelle asked.
As Grace explained everything that had happened over the last couple of weeks, she began to realize how hard and troubling it had been for her. Yet as she explained things to Annabelle and Mrs. Howard, Grace knew she’d been helped and supported through it all. For a moment she wondered if maybe, just maybe, Lizzie had been there to help
her through. She hadn’t really noticed it at the time, but looking back at it now, she was certain there had been some kind of guardian angel helping out. And who better to assist Jed and his children than Lizzie herself.
“And you planted the whole field yourself?” Annabelle asked.
“Not all of it,” Grace said. “Jed had gotten a good start on it before the snake got him.”
“Well, still, that’s a lot of work. I’m so proud of you, Grace. You were always so brave and I’ve always looked up to you.”
“Thank you, Annabelle. I’m just glad you helped me find my way out here. I honestly never expected to find a husband, let alone a family. I figured I’d just end up working here and being an honorary aunt to all of your babies. But now I have three adorable children to love on, and the hope that I might have children of my own as well.”
“That’s wonderful,” Annabelle said. “You deserve to have every happiness imaginable, Grace. I know you’ll find it.”
“I already have,” Grace said.
Mrs. Howard smiled and gave a half happy, half amused sigh. “So, now that I’ve got Jed to agree to stay for most of the day, we need to get everyone together and do some celebrating. There isn’t a lot of time to make a big meal, but I’m sure we could gather up some pot luck and enjoy some dancing and visiting.”
“You really don’t need to go to the trouble, Mrs. Howard,” Grace said. “Jed and I really are fine just saying hello to you all, and slipping away without a fuss.”
“Nonsense,” Mrs. Howard said. “This isn’t a fuss. This is a celebration that the two of you found each other, and after knowing Jed survived and his kids are cared for because of you, everyone will want to welcome you to Birch Creek properly. So just let them do it.”
Annabelle leaned over just a little and gave a mock whisper. “You’d be better off just letting her do what she wants. Otherwise, she’ll be likely to drag everyone in town out to see you one-by-one.”
Mrs. Howard snorted, then belied her annoyance with a laugh. “You know, I just might.”
“All right,” Grace said. “We won’t sneak away, but it really doesn’t need to be a big deal.”
Mrs. Howard only nodded and waved her hand in the air as she walked out of the doorway.
Annabelle laughed and Grace just shrugged, then joined her in laughing. The two walked over to the little sewing desk so Annabelle could show Grace what she was working on.
After a few minutes of oohing and ahhing over the design the dress was taking, Grace asked, “What is it like having her as a mother-in-law?”
“Oh, I love her. She makes me laugh daily, and she isn’t nearly as overbearing as I worried she’d be at first. She helps out, but doesn’t hover. And I know I can count on her for anything I might need.”
“I’m glad you have her. And Colten is a great man. Funny how things turn out the way they do.”
“It really is,” Annabelle agreed. “There are some incredible people out here living in Birch Creek. And don’t go telling anyone this just yet,” Annabelle said, leaning closer to Grace. “But Susan has put in a few advertisements in some papers back east asking for women to come out and help things grow out here. She wants to find women who have some skills to bring out business and shops. She has asked for women who can cook or bake to look into starting up some bakeries. She’s mentioned the need for someone to do a library.”
“Really?” Grace asked. “I have been missing the library back home. I would love it if someone came out to run a library. But is there a place a library could be built? Or even a place to add a few book shelves.”
“It would start out small,” Annabelle said. “And it would take time to purchase the books. But Susan had ideas like making a fund or even doing an auction to raise the money for it.”
“Wow,” Grace said. “Susan has quite the ideas, doesn’t she?”
“That she does,” Annabelle agreed. “But I kind of love them. Makes me feel like I can be a valuable asset to the town. I could even be a mentor and help someone figure out how to set up a shop now that Colten and I have done this.”
“I love it,” Grace said.
Annabelle smoothed out the fabric of the dress and pinned a section together in preparation to sew it. “Though she does also have some ideas that I don’t think would ever work.”
“Really?” Grace said. “Like what?”
“She wants to get some women doctors out here.”
“What a great idea,” Grace said. “Having someone that knows medicine would be incredibly helpful.”
“Medicine, yes. But I don’t know if anyone out here would let a woman doctor help them.”
Grace shook her head. “If that was all there was, I don’t see why they’d say no. Besides, I was able to help Jed with no medical training at all. Why not find someone who knows medicine?”
“I agree,” Annabelle said. “I just don’t know how well it would work here. But we haven’t had any luck with getting any doctors out here. So if a woman that knows medicine came, I’d go see her when I needed it.”
“You know,” Grace said, “I think I might know someone who would be interested in coming out here. She’s a relative of mine. My mother’s cousin’s daughter. Beatrice lives in New Jersey, and last I had heard from her, she was fighting for the chance to learn medicine. Her father was a doctor and he taught her a lot, but no one would let her go to school for training.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to let her know about Birch Creek,” Annabelle said. “Maybe you and Susan should talk about it. See if she’s had any responses to her advertisements. Then the two of you could figure out the details on what to tell Beatrice.”
“Good idea,” Grace said. “Wonder if I’ll see her tonight.”
“Oh, I’m sure you will. With Mother making sure everyone knows they’re invited to come celebrate yours and Jed’s nuptials, there won’t be a single soul that won’t try to make it.”
Grace just hoped it wouldn’t be something that worried Jed. Of course, he had seemed to be all right with the idea when Mrs. Howard had mentioned it to him. In fact, he’d agreed to stay longer in the day to accommodate the woman.
***
Jed took a step out of the mercantile to load the second small crate he carried into the wagon bed and could already see people milling around. When he’d put his children in the back of the wagon only minutes ago with their candy sticks to keep them occupied while he loaded the wagon, there had been no sign of anything out of the ordinary going on.
Mrs. Howard hadn’t wasted any time. There were a half dozen men already near the church pulling out slabs of wood from a wagon bed and placing them across some barrels that had seemed to appear out of nowhere.
As he watched everyone go back and forth to the wagon and follow the instructions Mrs. Howard gave them, he pondered on the last year. He’d gone from being a new father again, to being a single parent, mourning the love of his life, to being completely overwhelmed and desperate. That moment of desperation had led to him doing something he had thought he might come to regret, but now he had Grace in his life. She had been an absolute miracle and he was certain she would continue to bless the lives of himself and his children.
A couple of the ladies from the area carried over some cloth and covered the wooden slabs, then soon children showed up to help where needed.
“What are they doing?” Missy asked.
Jed looked at his girls, standing up in the back of the wagon, Missy holding onto Milo to keep him from falling out.
“They are going to celebrate the fact that Miss Grace decided to marry me and take care of us all.”
“That’s nice,” Missy said. “Are we going to celebrate too?”
“Yes, we sure are. But I need to finish bringing all the supplies out to the wagon. You keep Milo out of this stuff, all right?”
“All right, Pa.”
When he’d finished loading the next small box, and Mr. Howard had carried out the larger one, he took hold of Mil
o and pulled him out of the wagon to give Missy more freedom.
“Can we go play with them?” Missy asked.
“I think that would be fine. You two stay close together, and mind your manners.”
“We will, Pa.” Lottie lifted her arms to him and he helped her out of the wagon, then turned to help Missy as well. Then his oldest took Lottie’s hand and the two ran toward the church building to find the other children there.
Moments before Jed was about to go search for his wife, Grace walked out the door of the sewing shop, followed closely by Annabelle Howard.
“Good to see you, Jed,” Annabelle said. “Grace told me about your injury. I’m so happy you made it through that.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Howard,” Jed said. “I am too.”
Grace stepped up to the side of him and placed her arm around his waist, then pulled it away too soon and reached for Milo. Milo leaned toward Grace, and she placed the little boy on her hip and nuzzled her nose against his, making Milo giggle. Jed put his own arm around her to keep her there and didn’t miss the smile that graced Annabelle’s lips at the sight of him standing there like that with Grace.
Grace leaned against his shoulder for a moment. “I can’t believe Mrs. Howard is going to all this trouble.”
“Oh,” Annabelle chuckled. “This is nothing. She actually put a box together with the table cloths and some of the items she wanted for a celebration the day after you two left without telling her you’d gotten married. She was rather upset with Colten and me that we didn’t grab her on the way over. She’s been waiting rather impatiently for you to come back to town just so she could do this.”
“You can’t be serious,” Grace said.
Annabelle nodded solemnly, but she had a twinkle in her eye. “Very serious. I think Susan once called her a born wedding planner. She would throw a celebration for everyone if she could.”
The Widower's Bride: A Golden Valley Story (The Brides of Birch Creek Book 3) Page 10